


Bedakhal

by AllegoriesInMediasRes



Category: Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cultural Differences, Female Relationships, Gen, Grandmothers, Missing Scene, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Naina is my mouthpiece for all my rage at the grandmother's character in khnh, Oneshot, and the lack of any follow-up to her sheer monstrosity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26183542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllegoriesInMediasRes/pseuds/AllegoriesInMediasRes
Summary: Dadialways bemoans how very Western Mom is, how she doesn’t know how to cook Indian food, or how she worships Jesus, or how she failed to wash Dad’s feet enough.Dadinever seems to realize that if Mom was really as Western as she complained,Dadiwouldn’t still be residing in an upscale home in New York City, spending her days serenading the neighbors with off-keybhajansand subscribing Naina tosardarjimailing lists.Bedakhal (Hindi): ejection, expulsion
Comments: 8
Kudos: 8





	Bedakhal

_Dadi_ always bemoans how very Western Mom is, how she doesn’t know how to cook Indian food, or how she worships Jesus, or how she failed to wash Dad’s feet enough. _Dadi_ never seems to realize that if Mom was really as Western as she complained, _Dadi_ wouldn’t still be residing in an upscale home in New York City, spending her days serenading the neighbors with off-key _bhajans_ and subscribing Naina to _sardarji_ mailing lists.

“You should just throw her out onto the streets,” Naina often wants to tell her mother. “You’ve put up with her for twenty-five years, and she’s never changed.”

Just because Naina’s going for an MBA doesn’t mean she doesn’t know psychology as well. She’s done her fair share of reading self-help books and advice, especially in those first awful months after Dad’s death, and she knows it all: cutting toxicity out of your life, and setting boundaries, and not setting yourself on fire to keep other people warm. She’s grown up in the States, knows how much more temporal Western in-law relationships are compared to Desi in-law bonds. 

“Anyone else would have thrown her into a nursing home to leave her there to rot,” Naina wants to point out, “not continue to financially support her racist, miserable ass even years after her son died. She’s an old woman, and she can’t even find it in herself to _pretend_ to be nice to a little girl.”

It’s when Naina sees the blotchiness of Gia’s cheeks and the broken grandma dolls, sees her face falling with the knowledge of what it means to be adopted, even at six years old, that the anger is the hottest and the most justifiable. It’s times like these that she wants to tell Mom, “It’s hurting Gia to constantly see _Dadi_ fawning over Shiv and bringing up Dad and blaming her for anything that goes wrong. As Gia’s mom, it’s your job to protect her from abuse, and by this point, what _Dadi’s_ doing is abuse. It’s not enough to get into tiffs with _Dadi_ , you need to put your foot down and tell her that if she doesn’t stop taking her anger out on her, she’s gone. It’s what Gia needs, and if you don’t intervene, you’re abusing Gia as well.”

She never does, though, because as much as Naina loathes _Dadi_ , she loves Mom even more, and no matter how frustrated she gets, she won’t impose more ultimatums on Mom that she’s already faced with. But that doesn’t stop Naina from wishing her Mom was really as poor a _bahu_ as _Dadi_ always says.


End file.
